Cats captain Wikus van Heerden will not play in the Vodacom Super 14 match against the Western Force at Ellis Park on Friday night after failing a fitness test on Tuesday.

The Cats missed the tireless flanker’s presence in the match against the Bulls and will have their work cut out without him against the ever-improving Force outift. A loss for the Cats will see them leap-frogged into last position on the log.

Van Heerden has not recovered from a niggling knee injury and his place is again taken by Cobus Grobbelaar, while the only change to the match 22 is on the bench where prop Bertus Smit comes in for veteran Marius Hurter who picked up an injury against the Bulls.

Hooker Delarey du Preez will be pleasantly surprised that the Wallaby hooker Brendan Cannon has been ruled out injured for the Ellis Park clash. A mighty performance is required if the Cats are not to suffer their tenth loss in 11 matches this season.